mouths o' babes

What would you think if a 7 year old charmer came up to you at the end of a little vacation and said... "my dad left marks on the sheets every night in the hotel, and now we can't go back there." I beg of you, if that ever happens to you, don't judge too quickly. You see, if dad crashes the bike and gets pretty deep road rash on both hips, chances are, his wounds are going to ooze a bit on the sheets. It's not pretty, but at least it's not some of the bodily functions that Curly's statement could have implied. Luckily, he said it to my friend T, who happens to be married to my friend S, another bike racin' fool who has I'm sure oozed on his sheets at some point. And why he decided that we couldn't go back, I don't know.

What would you think if you asked a 10 year old why he decided to be a vegetarian, and he said "because I think it's wrong to eat God's creatures". Again, I beg of you, don't judge too quickly. Don't assume the parents are members of the religious right, who have been indoctrinating their son for the past 10 years. It is possible that the parents are not very religious, only attend church occasionally, and usually forget to say grace before dinner. Although, if that is the case, chances are said parents will burst out in uncomfortable laughter when they hear 10-year old's religious response for the first time, especially if it's at the pediatrician's office and they don't really know the pediatrician well at all. Also, don't assume that said 10-year old has found religion on his own. He may have just come up with what he thinks is a "good answer", for whatever reason, to explain why he is doing something that he himself doesn't really understand.

Gateway to the Midwest

I love the city of St. Louis. I know, it's not exactly an exotic destination. There are no beaches, no mountains, no big city excitement of a Chicago or NY. But I love it just the same. We have gone there every Labor Day for the past four years, of course to attend bike races, but also because it's a fun place to take the kids. I'm trying to do one new thing with them every year that we go, in addition to all of the racing action. Friday night is a party atmosphere with a night race around a beauty of a neighborhood, big old brownstone-types and a gorgeous park in the middle, Lafayette Square. Residents set up garden parties with wine and cheese to watch the races. I drank sangria, mmm. Velo-dude raced while there was still daylight, so we got to watch the drama of the night races as a family. Saturday am was a bummer, velo-dude crashed hard in his race and was pretty beat up for the rest of the weekend, but we still took the kids swimming at the hotel later, did a little shopping, had a great dinner, made the best of it. Sunday velo-dude decided not to race, so no hurries. Had a great leisurely breakfast, went to the zoo, and showed up for the last half of the race day to cheer friends on. Race action was on The Hill, charming Italian neighborhood and again, the neighborhood gets into it. Kids tried Thai food for the first time that night...it went about as well as I expected. Won't be trying that again for a few months (years?), so I'll have to continue to get my Thai fixes with work lunches. Monday was my favorite...downtown St. Louis was bustling. After some hem-haw about racing (more below on that), velo-dude did it, raced strong, finished upright, so a success. Then I took the boys to the arch, went to the top, checked out the museum below, and back to the race venue. By this time the excitement was beginning to brew for Stage 1 of the Tour of Missouri. Okay, I admit it, I get a little starstruck at this. We were able to watch 3 circuits of the 10-circuit race, before deciding we had to get the boys home at a decent time for school the next day. And we'll see the final stage this Sunday, what more could a girl ask for? See, much of the time, I gripe, whine, and poke fun of all the bike racing geekiness that is my husband, but deep down, I have a little of the geek in me as well.

The hem-haw, of which I unwittingly played a role...Sunday night, velo-dude was discussing whether he should try to race Monday. He was reluctant, because he is sporting a very deep knee wound from the crash, and really did not want to go down and damage it more (what with 'cross season looming and all). So, when we see his friend about an hour before the race, J asks why he's not gonna do it, and he hem-haws with an answer, so to facilitate the conversation, I jump in with "he's afraid he's going to do more damage to his knee". Helpful, right? WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! As we walked away from J, he said that if his other friend M wasn't going to take his number and race, he would use it himself, especially after I called him "chicken". . . Huh? Did I miss something? I honestly had to retrace my steps to that unfortunate word choice, "afraid". I could have easily said "he doesn't want to do more damage to his knee", and I think it would have been fine, but the minute I said "afraid", the testosterone kicked in. Yes, he raced alright. I'm going to have to remember this trick; should be able to use some reverse psychology to my advantage the next time I want something. Perhaps I should suggest that the bamboo floor project frightens him? That he is too chicken to open the boxes of flooring that have sat in my dining room for 4+ months? That the nasty stained pressboard floor that proudly shows its ugly face every day in my living/dining rooms is braver than he? Hmm, I'll have to work on it.

In the meantime, have I mentioned that I love St. Louis? And, yes, bike racing?

peace, love, and my boy Pinky

Yesterday was the end of summer, in that the boys went back to school today. So where did we spend that final day? In a minivan, driving for many many hours. Went to Steamboat Springs, CO for a delightful few days with my brother and his s.o. It was very nice to spend some time with him, having fun rather than dealing with the trying events surrounding my father's illness and death. We hiked, biked, fished, etc., all of those fun summer Rocky Mountain activities.

Stopped in the mile high city on the way home to pick up an extra mini-van, so the four of us were in two minivans for most of the day. Pinky started out with me after the pickup, and in keeping with the "no electronics" theme of the vacation, we talked, listened/danced to music, and sometimes just looked around together. It was fun. Next I was alone for a few hours while he joined Curly and velo-dude. And after the next stop, even though Curly announced he was going to watch "Wall-E" on the DVD player, Pinky chose to come with me again. We managed to find a radio station that was celebrating the Woodstock anniversary with some great 70's music, and some not so great but cheesy fun as well. We had a blast listening to that stuff, I told Pinky what I could about the music, about Woodstock, etc. When the station finally started to fade, he asked if we could look for another station that played "that awesome 70's music". We made a pit stop a couple of hours from home, and once again Pinky chose to come with me. We were both getting tired at this point, and couldn't quite find the music we wanted, but it was still all good. At one point when we were talking about his choice to ride with me instead of his brother, he told me that he really wanted to keep me company so I wouldn't be too sleepy and lonely. He is quite a guy, that one. 10 years old just may be my favorite age yet. Despite his announcing in front of some of my friends last week that his 5th grade teacher is "hot". So wrong, in so many ways; oh my, that one stirred up a good mom lecture from me. Pathetic thing about it is, he is just repeating what he's heard other boys at school say. He is so not interested in girls in that way (the "hot" way?). I know it's just around the corner though. And something tells me that when it hits, that will NOT be my favorite age yet.

A break

Have taken a break from writing for a little while. Dad passed away and I am sad, and overwhelmed at what needs to be done. Will resume when I'm not feeling so raw; hopefully that will come soon.

Not-so-random thoughts

1. I love my dad.

2. I hate cancer.

3. Why is it okay, humane even, to put a dog out of its suffering, but Assisted Suicide is only legal in 2 states?

mini-vaca

Velo-dude, Pinky, Curly & I went to the beautiful resort destination of the Quad Cities (southern IA-IL border) for Memorial Day. Big series of bike races, a pretty fun event that we used to hit just about every year. (before kids, that is)

Plan was to leave Friday evening right after work. Well, Friday morning I took a short but violent spill on the stairs at my house, full cup of coffee in hand, and hit the back of my head hard on the stairs. Pretty sure I had a minor concussion, finally felt mostly back to normal on Sunday.

Saturday in Burlington IA, the Snake Alley criterium, my favorite to watch. Velo-dude had a pretty good day, although he wasn't entirely satisfied with it. Spent some time with my boys down by the Mississippi River in the afternoon, here's a pic of them with my favorite Mississippi bridge behind them (truth be told, I haven't seen that many of them, but I still think this would be one of my favorites if I had). Curly is soaking wet due to a romp in the fountain that didn't make it into the picture.

Sunday race was at a truly beautiful park in Muscatine IA. Got to spend some good outdoor time with the boys, if only the city pool in the middle of the park hadn't been tempting us on the hot sunny day, only to be closed. Velo-dude had a migraine, but managed to finish his race, a small victory of sorts. Decided to take a break from fast food on Sunday night, so we sat ourselves down to a decent meal at a well-known chain I'll call...BananaBees. Velo-dude had been eyeing a table tent with a picture of a "mile high pie" on it, and we decided without much thought to order one for the table, with 4 forks. Velo-dude, Pinky, and Curly all dug in, and then I took a bite and immediately froze, recognizing the taste of peanut butter in my mouth. Stopped Curly, who suffers from a significant peanut allergy, from taking any more, and immediately confirmed with server that yes, it contained peanut butter, then talked Curly through it, making sure he was not feeling any danger signs. His eyes were as wide as can be, the poor little guy was FREAKED, as well he should have been. We completely lucked out...the pie truly was a mile high, and his fork never made it to the lower levels where the pb was found. Once we were certain he was not having a reaction, we ordered him a pb-free dessert of his own, and he calmed down. I am still appalled with myself for not having checked first. It is SO rare for us to go out to a sit-down meal, and rarer yet for us to order a dessert. But I am confident that this will put me back on my toes. Was also appalled to note that the epi-pen I had so carefully packed was back in the hotel room, not in my purse, at the time. It must suck to be my kid.

Monday's race venue was not great for the boys. Would have enjoyed watching more racing myself, but we ended up putting up some chairs and reading (or video-gaming if you're Curly) for a few hours. Drove home through lots of rain, got home around 10 pm, not too bad. I'm glad we went, but probably won't do that again for a while. Velo-dude would have more fun with his racer friends anyway, I tell myself.

Reading...I am getting into the habit of reading some of the same things Pinky is reading. It started with the Lightning Thief series earlier this spring, and I actually got into them, I always did have a thing for Greek mythology. But this weekend I couldn't find the book I had started, so I picked up another book Pinky had, and I must say it sucked. "Found". Terrible ending, only sucks you into the next in the series, really cheesy plot at the end, ugh. I read the whole thing Monday at the race and in the car. At least it's a quick read. I have the 4th in the mythology series waiting for me upstairs though, think I'd better go do that before I start studying in earnest again. Also started My Sister's Keeper, but I may have to put that one on hold for a while. I wish I could read guilt-free, instead of feeling like I should be studying all the time.

Way better than raindrops on roses...

THESE are a few of my favorite things...and oddly enough, even the clipboard that snuck into the picture is one of my favorite things...I love the two-toned wood. So, the reason for the pic is that after a too-eventful day, a cosmo was in order. Why was it too eventful, you ask? For starters, took a professional exam thingy this morning (4 hours of the morning, anyway), and it did not go well. I knew I was not well-prepared going in, since I had started serious studying way too late in the game, but I was frustrated at how poorly things went even on the topics I thought I did know well. Checked a discussion board tonight and found I was not alone...even the well-prepared peeps were extremely unhappy about the exam. Even though the bar has apparently been lowered, I am certain I'll be back at it in 6 months. Ugh. But, at least I feel like I know where to go when I start back up, so hopefully I'll get 'er next time.

I got to take the rest of the day off (the company knows you'll be worthless if you go back to work after that), so the afternoon actually was uneventful. Did a little shopping and a half-hearted attempt at picking up the house (not cleaning mind you, just picking up). When velo-dude got home we decided he should mow the lawn while Curly and I went to pick up some dinner, and that's when the excitement really picked up. We got the food, and were almost home (within feet of the house) when I stopped at a stop sign, waiting to turn left and another quick left into my driveway. As I waited, I saw the car facing me pull out into the intersection, and right into the path of a large pickup truck. I wanted to tell him to stop, but I couldn't figure out how, so I just had to watch the whole thing in slow-mo, as the truck t-boned him HARD on the passenger side and his car spinned a bit and slid sideways, closer and closer to me, thankfully stopping about 2 feet from my front end. Yikes. Since we were essentially in front of our house, Velo-dude and Pinky came running out after hearing the big crunch sound, as did a whole lot of our neighbors. The ensuing helping out of those involved, submitting statements, chatting with the neighbors we never see, and the boys wanting to watch till both cars got towed away, lasted over an hour. Luckily it was the ONE night of the week when we had no activities or other commitments. Scary stuff. The passenger was the only one hurt, but I think it was not too serious, a hit to the head which is hopefully not a big one, and banged up a bit. The driver at fault was a high school kid, and I wanted to hug him, he was so shaken up. When his dad finally got there he was all matter of fact and let's get this business taken care of , and I felt like screaming "for the love of Pete, just give your kid a hug!" He finally did get hugs from the mom of the kid that got hurt, once she was done in the ambulance with hers.

So, now that the intense studying is over (for a while), I'm going to try to get back into writing every once in a while. I've had plenty of stories to tell, but I've been hesitant to write about my trivialities when I've got good friends dealing with some really serious shit right now. But I know that's not right, and I also know that if I were dealing with things half as serious as they are right now, I'd probably want some diversions. So, divert I will, when I can carve out the time.

And now, I think I hear the second half of that beautiful steel shaker calling my name.